Interpretive Summary: This article is a review of the analysis of anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are an important group of bioactive compounds that exist primarily in colored plants. Recently a number of important technological advances in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ultra high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC), and mass spectrometry (i.e. high-resolution and sequential collision mass spectrometry, HRMS and MSn) allow much faster and better analysis of food anthocyanins. This article provides a review of the application of liquid chromatography (HPLC and UHPLC) in combination with mass spectrometry (MS) for the study of food anthocyanins in recent years.

Technical Abstract:
Anthocyanins are an important group of polyphenols that have health promoting properties. Analytical techniques for profiling anthocyanins have been widely reported in the last decade for in vitro and in vivo studies. A number of important technological advances in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the introduction of the ultra high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) have achieved significant gains in both the speed and the separation of anthocyanins in the past decade. Advancements in mass spectrometry, such as high-resolution and sequential collision mass spectrometry (HRMS and MSn) allow fast structural elucidation of food anthocyanins that play a very important role in food anthocyanin research. A significant increase in the number of studies has been reported for tandem MS, HRMS, and MSn based approaches for food analysis. This article provides an updated review of the application of liquid chromatography (HPLC and UHPLC) in combination with mass spectrometry (MS) for the study of food anthocyanins in recent years.